A club foot in horses is identified by a severely dished toe and a heel that is much too high. In severe cases, it looks almost as though the horse is standing on stilts. Club foot is thought to be a genetic problem, and is mostly seen in Arabian and Morgan horses. Although severe cases are easy to tell at a glance and typically prevent the horse from being ridden, more mild cases can be overlooked.
How can you tell if your horse has a club foot? Typically the horse, when grazing, will stand with the club foot back and extend the normal foot. They often also lead with the normal foot and stumble on the club foot. Measuring the angle of the hoof to the ground can be useful as well, as a club foot will have an angle of more than 60 degrees. The heel on a club foot will be higher than the normal foot, and the hoof will also be narrower and have a smaller frog. Additionally, the shoulder of the normal side of the horse will be rounded, muscular and normal looking, while the shoulder of the club foot will appear to be sloping.
It is generally understood that a club foot can form when a horse is imbalanced, forming on the short side of the horse as a compensation. Therapeutic shoeing, often with pads to assist with the balance issue, can lead to miraculous results, making the horse more comfortable and sound. In very severe cases, surgery may be necessary. Because of the genetic implications, no horse with a club foot should ever be bred.
I’ve been looking for information about club foot but nothing I’ve found addresses a club foot in a hind leg like my young gelding has. Any info would be appreciated.
I have a club-footed horse and am trying to find something to help him. I thought about some form of solid bottomed rubber boot. Any suggestions where I may find this? Thank you.
I know I am having the exact same problem. My mare has a club foot in her hind end also! Do you find anything out?
Hi,
This is not always correct about not breeding a horse with a club foot I put off for year breeding a QH mare that I own for that reason, so I finally took the risk as this mare was exceptional QH which wasn’t doing to much and bred her to an Andulsion.
The foal was born and is now 2 years old with the most perfect feet I have seen in all of my warmblood and Irish Sports horses which were born that year a total of 8 foals.
I am about to look at a Trakaner who the owner has just told me has a club foot but is sound. She does have a problem with him that she can’t seem to resolve. When he is lunged he picks up his canter on both leads very calmly but as soon as there is a rider on his back when asked to canter he bolts for about 5 strides and gets very excited. Could this have anything to do with his club foot. As an aside, he was shown on the jumper circuit for 3 years when he developed this habit. He is just turned 11 years old. Any comments would be greatly appreciated as I haven’t run into a club foot in all my 62 years of training horses or riding. Thank you.
I’ve had my club footed saddlebred for 10 years. i think it starts from the shoulder and manifest it’s outward appearance in his hoof. this shoulder is more upright than the other shoulder and therefor makes the leg seem shorter. he holds it under his body with very little pressure on the heal. thus it grows longer and leans on his other longer leg. the hoof of the longer leg is held far forward and causes an underrun heal from the constant pressure. i shoe him by keeping the club foot shoe forward so as not to ware his toe down while grazing. otherwise it just gets shorter and shorter. also this foot i use a pad to make his leg a little longer. and because he can’t move this shoulder forward as far as the other one (because he has it back underneath him most of the time) i want him to pick it up as soon as he can so i put a rocker on the toe. This helps his balance too while cantering. because the other hoof is out in front while grazing ,his heal is underrun. So on this foot i want an extra amount of protection under the heal. So I have the shoe set as far back as absolutely possible. He actually wears a larger size on this foot. while he’s in his stall i keep his hay and feed off the floor so that at least he stands correctly at night and this takes some pressure off the underrun heal side of his body. a club foot is a whole horse problem not just a hoof problem. it affects his hind quarters as well because of the way he balances himself all day while grazing. and i do alot of dressage exorcises for this and i don’t ride him over and over in small tight circle. The exorcises are very inportant and keep him from being overly crooked as a result of the club foot. I’ve had a check ligament desmotomy on the club footed leg and have had him to Michigan State University for torn ligaments on the underrun heal leg. My advise to anyone purchasing a horse is to always watch the horse grazing in a field. It is easy to detect.
I had a similar problem with a gelding…turned out it was pain from the hocks (OCD). After surgery his behavior dissapeared. Talk to your vet – it is probably some pain he is experiencing.
we acquired a horse w/ club foot. the prev owners didn’t ride him for about a year then when they did he was tripping and seemed off balance. they had xrays and everything looked okay as far as a leg injury. i don’t know if they realized he had club feet. the horse has had the same ferrier his whole life and i believe he has been treating the club foot as needed. why would the stumbling start to be obvious now at age 16? we took the horse to same ferrier approx 5 wks ago and he put shoes on front. we want to ride him approx 2 miles today to another farm. is it safe if he’s only walking? he mostly only “stumbles/trips” when he trots or canters. please respond asap. i’ve got the fever to ride!!
I have a 5 yr old WH mare who has a severe club foot or mabe its a stilt foot, it is completly turned under..I have pics if that would help…I am wanting to try & help her out…I know she will never be completly better, but some ideas on where to start to fix some of the problem would be great…I’d love to raise a colt out of her, but I’m thinking that the way she is now that this would be too much for her, I’d just love to help her in anyway, she is one of the most loving animals I’ve ever met! Thank you so much for your help.
I have an 8yr. old mare with a club foot. I’ve had her for a little over three years, the previous owner had surgery done on her as a 2yr. old to correct the foot. She hasen’t had any trouble with it at all untill about 3wks. ago. She has had the same farrier all her life, and has rarley needed shoes, so she was just trimmed last time. We went for a ride a few days later and she started a slight limp. I had the farrier out again about a week and a half later, and had front shoes put on her. She was fine for a few days, and then started a slight limp again. The weather cooled down and the limp seemed worse. The vet guessed that she is getting arthritis in her shoulder. She doesn’t favor her foot, and there’s nothing apparent wrong with her leg, it just seems to be her shoulder. But she’s only 8yrs. old, could it really be arthritis? She’s still got the silght limp after almost 4wks., but it doesn’t seem to be painfull or bothering her, she still runs around in the pasture. Is this a permanent problem resulting from her club foot?
Just a note to say about supposedly “because of the genetic implications, no horse with a club foot should ever be bred” can you please explain to me why my TB mare has produced 2 foals (colt in 2006, filly in 2007) without the implication of “inheriting” any sign of a club foot from their mother? (Colt was sold to Singapore)
Must be super lucky?
Club feet can be genetic, but they can also be the result of poorly treated injury resulting in the horse favouring its heel long enough to change the hoof wear/growth pattern. Xrays will show if the club is genetic or due to injury/poor hoof care; for the later the joint spacing will be incorrect/uneven.
I do not think there should be a problem breeding a horse with a “man made” club foot.
if the club is genetic however, and you breed the horse that has it, this genetic flaw will be waiting to affect its foals, grandfoals, or great grandfoals. THe normal footed foals may not show the club foot, but they may still have the genes for it, and if bred to another horse that has the genes (but may or may not show it) then you will have another club footed foal. Why risk the subsequent generations?
I have a club footed horse who has a “hitch” in his gait at the walk on that foot. Any shoeing suggestions to get rid of the “Hitch”?
I’ve adopted a habitat horse and she has a club foot. My farrier says that all her feet are like what they call mule feet, very small feet for her size. The right front is the worst, it’s clubed footed,caved in on the sides, and she’s toed out on top of that. The habitat doesn’t know anything about how old she may be for they found her a stray and a skeleton. But believes she’s around 4yrs old. My question is can surgery be done for her so that she can be ridden? Right now, my trainer says she limps with her on and seems to get worse the longer she has a rider. Please get with me soon for I’m at a standstill on what I should do. Thanks for any help!
It would be my recomendation that you get a set of x-rays taken. Right now you are just guessing as to what the coffin bone looks like and how much sole depth is at the toe. Next after you have that info , trim the heel down as low as poss. take out the dish at the toe, keep it on a short trim cycle(2 to 4 wks)give it some time off, its probably sore at the toe.
Karen, that is a horse that should not be ridden. Even if your vet could sever the tendon to help the club foot it sounds like the damage is done. All of her feet have problems and at this point the is no doubt skeletal damage, probably arthritis and down the road navicular. That coffin bone will not be able to take too many more years of stress, imo, since it seems that it cannot take even several hours of riding.
Maybe she could be a carriage horse or something. Her spine and conformation is probably a mess.
I say no to the surgery, except to make her more comfortable, if it even will in the long term. But more rideable? I not only doubt it but can almost guarantee that horse will have a very short and painful riding career if you continue. She’s a rescue. God bless you for taking her in. Keep her but fine another horse to train and ride.